Cane-crushing apparatus



Aug. 26 1924.

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HENRY HURTER, 0F ST. LO

PANY, GF ST. LOS. i

Application. filed April 20, i923.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it lnoyvn that l, Hanni' insana, a citi- Zen of the United States ot america, and a resident ot the city oi" St. Louis, in the State ot Missouri, have in vented certain new and useful lmprovements in Cane-'Crushing ripparatus, ot Which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference had to the accompanying` drawings, forming a part ot this specification.

This invention relates generally to iinprovements in cane crushing` apparatus and particularly to a cane crushing` apparatus Which is provided with means -wher by the capacity ot said apparatus is increased to the maximum.

A cane crushing apparatus ot the type disclosed in the present application is a Very large structure capable of crushing;r more than a thousand tons ot per day and, ot course, an enormous structure such as this would be extremely expensive. t

The mos=J important consideration in connection With an expensive apparatus ot the sort mentioned, is capacity, regardless oit how etiiciently the vapparatus may crush the cane, and in spite oi the tact that the maximum yield of `iuice is obtained treintim cane acted upon, it. said apparatus, due to inherent deficiencies therein, does not, While operating at its highest speed. (grind a mm .num tonnage of cane per day, the lgreat expense attached to its acquisitionand operation Will render the use ot the apparatus unprolitable.

Briefly stated my iiiproyed cane crushing` apparatus comprises a series ot Crushers or mills which act successively7 upon the cane., andthe lelements o't each crusher are so constructed and arranged that the cane crushed thereby is placed in a condition to be most effectively acted upon by the next succeeding crusher. Eachot the rollers the crushers or mills is preferably provider, with crushing` ribs and the ribs on the rollers of the different crushers differ from each other, each crusher being; provided with ribs adapted to most effectively act upon the cane delivered thereto, and also being` adapted place the cane in sucn a condition that the next succeeding Crusher Will perform its function most effectively.

To obtain the maximum output from an apparatus ot the type disclosed herein itic PATENT FFCE.

------ Mn FULTGN. XEON LI'GRS COM" N OF DELVARE.

necessary tor each cyr-usher and mill ot said apparatus to act upon the maximum amount cane at all times While the apparatus is in operation, theretore it the maximum amount ot cane is delivered to the second Crusher ot the apparatus, that crusher Will act upon the body ot cane so delivered and a consequence ot the crushing action to which said body ot cane is subjected it will be reduced in volume so that said body ot cane will represent exactly the maximum amount or cane which may pass through the next succeeding crusher, and this Crusher will likewise reduce said body et cane to a sise that represents the maximum amount ot cane which may pass through the iirst mill.

The problem therefore is to produce a cane f LShing apparatus which is provided with ans whereby a sufficient amount of cane may be drawn into the apparatus to cause the individual crushers and mills ot said apparatus to act upon a body ot cane 'which represents the maximum capacity ot each ot said Crushers or mills.

Prior to this invention the rollers ot the first crusher et cane crushing a]g paratus ot the type disclosed herein have been ot the same diameter as thc rollers ot the second a'i'isher, and due to the Ytact that the body 'i cane which is introduced into said first crushei.' is in a very loose condition the passage ot said body oit cane through said iirst crusher will compress it so that said body ot cane is tar below the capacity ot the second crusher, and because said body ot cane beloiv the capacity ot the second crusher it `will be below the capacity ot cach succeedina cru sher and mill through Whi ch it passes.

ln the apparatus disclosed herein I employ a lirst crusher having,Y rollers considerably larger in diameter than the rollers of the second crusher and a second crusher having` rolls Which are larger in diameter than the rolls ot the other crusher and of the mills, whereby the objections recited above are eliminated.

Fig'. l is a diagrammatical View of a cane crushing apparatus embodying` the features of this invention.

Il is a diagrammatical plan viera' the cane crushing apparatus illustrated .i I, the crushing ribs which are sho.,n on the rolls in Fig. lbeing omitted to simplify the view. j

s second cr usher.

- crusher.

Fig. V is a fragmentary vie-w drawn to the scale of III and IV, and showing the ribs on the rolls of the third crusher.

Fig. VI is a fragmentary view drawn to the scale of Figs. IILIV and V, and illustrating the ribs on the peripherT of a roll of the iirst mill.

Fig. V II is a view similar to Fig. VIV, and showing the ribsv on the rolls of the second, third, fourth and fifth mills.

To illustrate the invention I have shown a succession of crushers, or mills, adapted to act upon the cane which travels through the apparatus, as indicated by arrows in Fig. I. The second crusher comprises a pairk of crushing rolls A provided with peripheral ribs 1. These ribs are preferably V-shaped in kcross-section, as shown in Fig. IV, and the ribs of one of the rolls A preferably overlap the ribs of the other roll, the ribs of each roll being extended into the corresponding peripheral grooves formed in the other roll. The third crusher comprises a pair of crushing rolls B smaller in diameter than the rolls of the second crusher and provided vvith ribs 2, which correspond approximately to the shape of the ribs of the first However, the ribs 2 of the third crusher `are preferably of less pitch and smaller than the ribs of the second crusher. Furthermore the cooperating ribs of the third crusher are preferablyV loca-ted relatively close to each other7 as shown in Fig. V. C designates the top roll of the first mill, I) designates a lower roll,` usually termed a cane roll7 and E designates a roll usually termed the bagasse roll. Each of these rolls C, D and E is provided With peripheral crushing ribs 3 (Fig. VI) which are finer than the corresponding ribs of the third crusher. The second, third, fourth andr fifth mills each consist of a top roll C, a cane roll D and a bagasse roll E and each of these rolls, which is the approximate diameter of the rolls of the third crusher and of the first mill, is provided with peripheral crushing ribs 1, shown in Fig. VII, said ribs being smaller and of less pitch than the ribs of the first mill.

The rotatable crushing rolls are provided with journals 5 adapted to be mounted in suitable bearings, but since such bearings are old and well known in the art, I do not deem it necessary to illustrate them in the drawings.

Arranged in advance of the second crusher is the first crusher F whichh-is provided with a pair of crushing rolls G having peripheral crushing ribs 6, said ribs, like the ribs on the rolls of the crushers already described,

being V-shaped in cross section and cooperating with each other as do those ribs previously described. The rolls G of the first crusher F are of much greater diameter than the rolls of the other crushers, and the crushing ribs on said rolls of said first crusher are of greater pitch than the crushing ribs onA said other rolls, consequently said rolls are able to draw into the apparatus a much larger body of cane at one time than they would if they were of the same diameter as the rolls of the other crushers. As already stated this feature of the apparatus is of the utmost importance due to the fact that the rst crusher' must draw into the apparatus a body of canesuflicient in volume to cause all of the subsequem crushers and mills to function to theirextreme capacity.

The clane is introduced into the first crusher F in a very loose condition; in other words, the canev is not veryclosely packed. When this loose bodyof cane is introduced into the first crusher the large ribs 6 on the rolls of said crusher are adapted to mash and compress the cane whereby said bodyof cane is transformed into a comparatively compact mass which is passed on to the second` crusher by said rolls of said first crusher. It is only by increasing the sizes of the rolls of the -first crusher F that an amount of cane may be drawn into the apparatus which, when compressed by the first crusher, will be sufficient in volume to represent the maximum capacity of the second crusher. After the cane passes through the second crusherwhere it is acted upon by the finer ribs 1 which are adapted to split and shred the compressed cane and thus prepare it for the third crusher, it passes to said third crusher, and by increasing the diameter of the'rolls ofI said second crusher, said second crusher accepts from the-first crusher and piasseson to the third crusher a body of cane which will represent the maximum amount which may pass through said third crusher. The body of cane then passes from said third crusher to the first, second, third, fourth and fifth mill in turn, the rolls onv said mills and the ribs on said rolls being so arranged that they will effectively squeeze the juice from the mat of cane.

T0` provide means whereby the speeds of the various elements o-f my apparatus may be regulated I employ a separate power generating device 10` for actuating the first crusher, rand a power generating device 11 which actuates the second and third crushers only. A. power generating device 12 is connected to and actua-tes the first and second mills, and a power` generating device 13 is connected to and aotuates the' third,

fourth and fth mills. As Will be seen by referring to Fig. II of they drawing, the various power generating devices are connected to the associated Crushers and mills by means of suitable gearing but as said gearing is Well known and forms no part of the present invention, I do not deem it necessary to describe same.

What I claim is:

1. In a cane-crushing apparatus, a primary crusher comprising a pair of crushing rolls, and a second Crusher comprising a pair of crushing rolls arranged in advance of the primary Crusher and adapted to receiVe the oane passing therefrom, the rolls of said primary Crusher being of greater diameters than the rolls of said second crushe-r.

2. In av combined cane-crushing and juice-expressing apparatus, a primary Crusher comprising a pair of crushing rolls,

a second Crusher comprising a pair of crushing rolls arranged 1n advance of the primary Crusher and adapted to receive the cane passing therefrom, and a juice-eroV pressing mill arranged in advance of said second crusher, the rolls ot' said primary Crusher being of greater diameters than the rolls of said second Crusher, and the rolls olf said second'crusher being of greater diama ters than the rolls of said juiceeexpressing mill.

3. A combined cane-crushing and juiceexpressing apparatus comprising a plurality of sets of rolls whereby the cane is successive-ly acted upon, the rolls of the first set being of greater diameters than the rolls of the other sets. l

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I hereunto aiiiX my signature.

HENRY HURTER. 

